The Coup:
Eddard Stark was in his office and he knew that now he had a problem with King Robert's death. He had originally planned to tell him the truth about what he had discovered about Queen Cersei and all three of King Robert's children being bastards born of incest between the Queen and her brother. But Eddard wanted his friend to die in peace so he chose not to tell him, he had even written 'Rightful Heir' instead of 'Joffrey' on the King's final orders for when he died which named Eddard as Lord Protector of the Realm which meant he would rule until Joffrey came of age. But Joffrey was not the rightful heir to the throne since he had no King's blood in him. The rightful heir was King Robert's oldest brother, Stannis Baratheon who was on Dragonstone at the minute so Eddard needed to send him a message.
"Lord Stark" a voice called which distracted Eddard from his thoughts and he turned to see Lord Renly Baratheon walking towards him "Could I have a word in private."
Eddard nodded and allowed Renly into his office. When he came in, he stood in front of Eddard's desk and Eddard could see that he seemed rather anxious "What can I do for you Lord Renly?" he asked
Renly smiled at him "My brother named you Lord Protector of the Realm upon his death did he not" Renly asked
Eddard nodded, while he wasn't happy about this as he had no understanding of ruling the South, he knew that someone had to keep the power hungry Lannisters in line. Eddard always did his duty and it was his duty to make sure that the Kingdoms did not fall into Chaos.
"Well you being named Lord Protector won't matter to Cersei" Renly stated "She will use her power to rule instead, she's a danger to the Kingdoms, give me one hour and I can put 100 swords at your command."
Eddard looked at him "And what would I do with these 100 swords?" he asked
"Strike" Renly replied "Tonight while the castle asleep we can get the children away from the Queen and into our custody. Whether you are Lord Protector of the Realm or not, whoever holds the King will hold the Kingdom"
Eddard rubbed his chin; he could use these 100 swords to help prevent Joffrey from being named King and allow Stannis to be crowned. But this was not honourable and it went against everything he stood for, so he sighed "No" he replied "I won't dishonour the King's memory by spilling blood in the Red Keep and dragging frightened children from their beds."
Renly looked at him in disbelief "Lord Stark, if we don't act now then it will be too late for you, me and everyone we care about"
Eddard looked at him "And what of Stannis Baratheon?" he asked
Renly shrugged his shoulders "What about my brother?"
Eddard looked at Renly in the eyes "By the laws of Gods and Men, Stannis Baratheon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. The children are all bastards born of incest which makes King Robert's brother the rightful heir to the throne."
Renly snorted "Stannis has the personality of a lobster. The people would not love him as their King but they love me. I could make a good King, besides my brother has no support apart from a few Houses in the Narrow Sea"
Eddard couldn't believe what he was hearing, Renly Baratheon was thinking about committing treason and overthrowing the rightful ruler, he knows that Stannis knew more about ruling that Renly as he had seen that Renly didn't take his duty as Master of Laws very seriously. Eddard narrowed his eyes at Renly "No!" he snapped "I won't have any part in this treason, Stannis knows more about ruling the Seven Kingdoms that you do and he is the rightful heir."
Renly looked at him "So be it" he replied before he left Eddard office and closed the door. Eddard sighed as now he was right in the middle of a power struggle. But he had to support the rightful heir to the throne and so he wrote a letter to Dragonstone which told Stannis what he had discovered.
Later, Eddard finished writing the letter to Stannis which he then folded and poured melting wax from a candle on. Then he stamped the letter with his Direwolf seal and he looked at one of his guards "You will sail to Dragonstone tonight." He said and then he handed him the letter "You will place this in the hands of Stannis Baratheon, not his steward, not his captain of the Guards, not his wife, only Stannis himself.
It was then that the door opened and the guards let the Master of Coin Petyr Baelish enter his office "Lord Stark, you asked to see me"
Eddard sighed and then he nodded and then his guards left leaving him and Lord Baelish alone. "My lord protector" Baelish stated as he gave a small bow
Eddard sighed and he leaned back in his chair "The king has no trueborn sons" he stated "Joffrey and Tommen, are Ser Jaime's bastard sons. Born of incest between him and the queen."
"So when the King dies?" Baelish questioned
"The throne passes to his brother Stannis" Eddard stated "By the laws of Gods and men he is the rightful heir to the throne"
"So it would seem" Baelish stated and then he walked to the balcony "Unless..."
Eddard interrupted him "There is no unless" he snapped "He is the rightful heir, nothing can change that"
"And he cannot take the throne without your help" Baelish stated "You would be wise to deny him help. He has very little support and Tywin's gold will prevent some houses from turning against his daughter. Down south they fear Tywin and his wrath. Stannis has very little support and there is no point supporting someone with little support and has no chance in winning the throne"
Eddard turned to Baelish and narrowed his eyes "Do you have a shed of honour?" he asked
Baelish smirked "You are the Hand of the King and now the Protector of the Realm, you have all the power now, all you have to do is reach out and take it, make peace with the Lannisters, release the imp and marry your daughter to Joffrey. We've got plenty of time to finish Stannis and if Joffrey proves too much of a problem then we simply revel his little secret and seek Lord Renly to take his place
Eddard narrowed his eyes "We?" he questioned
"You'll need someone to share these burdens with I assure you" Baelish stated "My price would be modest"
Eddard looked at him "What you suggest his treason" he stated
Baelish smirked "Only if we lose" he stated
"Make peace with the Lannisters you say?" Eddard questioned as he brought over the Valyrian Steel dagger that had been used to try and murder Bran, he then placed it on his desk "The people who tried to murder my son"
"We only make peace with our enemies my lord" Baelish stated "That's why it's called making peace"
Eddard knew that this was not something he wanted to get involved with, he was an honourable lord and he would not take power that was not rightfully his "No" he stated "I won't do it, I won't bring my family into this and put my daughters in danger"
"So it will be Stannis and war?" Baelish questioned
"There is no other choice" Eddard stated "He is the heir"
"So then why did you call me here?" Baelish asked
Eddard looked at him "When Catelyn came here you promised her that you would help me. The queen a dozen knights and a hundred men at arms, which is enough to wipe out what remains of what is left of my men. I need the help of the Gold cloaks to secure the throne for Stannis. The city watch is 2000 strong and sworn to defend the King's Peace."
Baelish smirked and shook his head "Look at you, you know what you want me to do" he stated as he sat down "You know what has to be done. But it's not honourable so the words stick in your throat. When the queen proclaims one King and the Hand proclaims another, who's peace do the Gold Cloaks protect, who do they follow?" Baelish was silent and then he smirked and revealed the answer "The man who pays them."
...
Later, Eddard was walking through the corridors of the Red Keep. Baelish would get the City Watch on his side and then they would secure the throne quickly so Stannis could sail to King's Landing and take the throne before the Kingdoms plunged into war. Eddard did not like doing this but there was no other choice as he had to secure the throne for Stannis and he wanted to do it with as little bloodshed as he could.
"Lord Stark" a voice called and Eddard turned to see the Red Keep's steward approaching
Eddard then looked as his men drew their swords "No" he said to his men "Let the man speak"
"King Joffrey and the Queen Regent demand your presence in the throne room" the steward stated
"King Joffrey?" Eddard questioned
"Good King Robert is dead" the Steward stated "May the gods give him rest"
Eddard stared at the man and he now knew that it was time. He had to secure the Iron Throne for Stannis and prevent Westeros from plunging into civil war so he made his way over to the Red Keep Throne room. He soon arrived at the courtyard where his guards along with Varys and Baelish were waiting for him. "Well?" Eddard asked
"It is done" Baelish replied "The city watch is yours"
"Good" Eddard nodded and then he looked around "Is Lord Renly joining us?"
Varys spoke "I fear that Lord Renly has left the city" he replied "He rode an hour before dawn with Ser Loras Tyrell and fifty retainers. They were last seen galloping south in some haste"
Eddard sighed and then he walked into the Red Keep with his guards following him. He met up with the commander of the Gold Cloaks, Janos Slynt "We stand behind you Lord Stark" Janos stated
Then the doors opened and Eddard and his men walked into the throne room. The room was filled with Gold Cloaks and the Kingsguard stood in front of the Iron Throne. Joffrey sat on the Iron Throne with his mother standing next to him.
"All hail his Grace King Joffrey" the steward spoke up "First of his name, King of the Andals and the First men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the Realm"
Joffrey stared at Eddard as he approached the Throne "Inform the royal council to make all the arrangements for my coronation" he ordered "I wished to be crowned within the fortnight. Today I shall accept oaths of fealty from my loyal councillors"
Eddard sighed and looked at Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard "Ser Barristan" he called "I believe no one here can question your honour" he then handed him the parchment which held King Robert's final degree before his death.
Barristan took the sealed parchment and looked at it and saw King Robert's seal "The Seal of King Robert" he stated "Unbroken" he then broke the seal and read the message "It seems that King Robert has named Lord Eddard Stark as the regent and Protector of the Realm until Joffrey comes of age."
Cersei smiled at Barristan "Let me see that" Barristan handed her the letter. Cersei looked at the letter before smirking as she tore the letter up.
"Those were King Robert's final orders!" Barristan gasped
"We have a new King now" Cersei smirked "Now he needs those Oaths of fealty"
Eddard narrowed his eyes "Joffrey is not the rightful heir to the Throne"
Joffrey's face turned red with rage "LIAR!" he yelled "I AM THE SON OF KING ROBERT AND THE NEW KING!"
"I will not swear fealty to someone who has none of the King's blood in him" Eddard stated
"You condemn yourself with your own words from your mouths" Cersei smirked "Ser Barristan, seize the traitors"
Ser Barristan looked conflicted, he was meant to follow orders from the King but what Eddard said made him think, he remembered his time serving the Mad King and the things he did when he ruled. Eddard's men all drew their swords ready to protect their lord.
"Ser Barristan is a good man" Eddard stated "A loyal man, do him no harm"
Cersei scoffed "You think he stands alone?" she questioned as Sandor Clegane drew his sword as well.
"KILL THEM" Joffrey ordered as he stood up from the Iron Throne, his face red with rage "KILL THEM ALL, I COMMAND IT!"
The Lannister men alone with the Kingsguard drew their swords as a fight was about to happen. Eddard was thankful that he had the Gold Cloaks on his side as his men would never be able to take on the Lannister forces.
"Commander" Eddard turned to Janos Slynt "Take the Queen and her children into custody. Escort them back to the Royal Apartments and keep them under guard"
Janos nodded to Eddard and turned to his men "Men of the Watch" he called, then the Gold Cloaks got their swords and spears into attack position and were ready to fight. There were a few moments of silence and then Janos shouted "NOW!"
Then one of Eddard's men groaned as a spear was driven through his stomach by a Gold Cloak. Eddard looked around to see the Gold Cloaks were attacking his own men instead. Eddard could only watch in horror as his men were killed before his eyes, but then he felt a knife at his throat.
Petyr Baelish sneered at Eddard as he held the knife around his throat "You were right not to trust me" he sneered.
Quickly all of Eddard's men were dead and Eddard was forced to his knees "You have committed treason against your King" Cersei sneered "And now you will pay the price."
Joffrey turned to Janos Slynt "You have done your King a great service" he stated "You shall be well rewarded"
"Thank you my King" Janos smiled
Joffrey then continued "But now I have another task for you" he stated "Take your men to the Stark Household and kill everyone there, I will have a message sent to the rest of the Realm what happens with traitors, but bring me the traitor's three daughters especially the oldest one Astrid, I have plans for them" he then looked at Eddard "Now take this traitor to the Black cells"
Eddard watched in horror as the Gold Cloaks grabbed him and then dragged him away as he watched the Gold Cloaks leave the hall to go over to the Stark Household.
…
In the House where the Stark Household were living, the household members were packing things away for the Stark Girls when they head home later that day. They had no idea of what had just happened in the Throne room so when the Lannister guards and Gold Cloaks arrived, they were caught completely by surprise. The Guards at the gates were quickly overrun and quickly killed and then hundreds of soldiers rushed through the courtyard to look for any members of the Stark Household. Their orders were to kill every member but leave the Stark Girls alive and capture them.
Near the house itself, Vayon Poole, Lord Eddard steward was busy overseeing several servants packing the belongings of the Stark girls onto a cart "Careful" he said "Septa Mordane will have my head if anything is damage" But then they heard shouting and they all looked to see several Lannister guards charging towards them. Before anyone could ask what was going on, the soldiers suddenly attacked and killed them all, Vayon Poole was killed when a spear was driven through his chest and then the soldiers charged into the building.
…
In the building, Sansa Stark and Septa Mordane were walking through a corridor completely unaware of what was going on outside. Sansa was still upset that her betrothal to Joffrey would not go head and that she had to go back North. Septa Mordane didn't mind as she had lost all interest in Joffrey and could clearly see that the kiss he had given Sansa before was not real and that he had done it on the orders of his mother. They would be leaving today but there was no sign of Astrid or Arya.
"Your sisters knew that they were leaving today" Mordane grumbled "How could they forget?"
"They didn't forget" Sansa snorted "They are training again. Arya always comes back with bruises, she's so clumsy and Astrid shouldn't be teaching her how to fight, ladies don't fight"
But before Sansa could continue, they heard banging nearby and Mordane held Sansa back "Shush!" she ordered "Go back to your room and lock the door, don't open it for anyone"
"What's going on?" Sansa asked with a bit of fear in her voice
"Just Go!" Mordane ordered and Sansa turned around and ran away though her long dress made it difficult. When Sansa was out of sight, the door was forced open and Mordane walked forward to see several Lannister guards led by Joffrey's sworn sword Sandor Clegane with them. Mordane just calmly walked forward towards the guard. Then Sandor nodded and then the guards rushed forward where Sandor slashed Mordane across the chest with his sword and the Septa collapsed to the floor bleeding. Mordane then watched as the soldiers rushed through the corridors as her vision went black and she saw no more.
…
In another part of the building, Astrid and Arya were also completely unaware of what was going on outside. Astrid was dressed in her leather armour while Arya wore her boy's tunic and her hair was completely messed up while Astrid's was in a messy knot. After a while of training, Astrid had shown Arya how to start attacking her opponents by thrusting forward and slashing high from above to break an opponent's block with enough force. Arya was unable to break Astrid's block as she was stronger than her. They fought for a while until Astrid slashed her wooded sword and knocked Arya's sword away "And your dead" she smirked
Arya groaned "This is no good" she groaned "I'll never be as good as you"
"You will in time" Arya stated "Remember I've had years of training while you have just started and soon you will develop your skills and become better at them. Soon you will be the finest swordswoman in the Seven Kingdoms and you may become better than me."
Arya smiled at her sister but then they heard the door bang open and the two girls turned to see the Kingsguard Ser Meryn Trant along with several Lannister men entering the room. "Arya Stark, Astrid Stark, come with us, your father wants to see you" Meryn stated
Arya looked confused but Astrid narrowed her eyes "And if father wanted to see us, why did he send Lannister men to collect us instead of his own guards."
Meryn made an excuse "You father and all his men our busy at the moment"
Astrid narrowed her eyes at Meryn "Father did not send you!" she spat "He would never trust Lannister men with a task like this to collect his daughters."
Meryn looked at his men "Take them by force!" he ordered
One of the Lannister men walked forward but Astrid pointed her wooden sword at him making the guard laugh "Put that stick down girl"
Astrid didn't reply but then she swung the wooden sword and struck the Lannister guard in the face. Then she drew a dagger from her belt and buried it in the guard's neck. Everyone jumped back in shock as Astrid took the knife out; she then dropped her wooden sword and took the Lannister guard's sword from his belt as the guard collapsed to the floor. "Arya go now, het out of here, I'll hold these idiots off"
Arya looked at her sister in horror "But what about you?" she questioned "I can't just leave you here"
"Just go Arya!" Astrid ordered "I don't know what is going on but I won't let these idiots hurt you."
"But…" Arya stated
"GO!" Astrid shouted
Arya felt a tear fall down her face and then she turned and ran from the room.
"Oh no you don't girl!" another Lannister guard shouted "Come back here" the guard then ran towards her only for a knife to embed itself in his neck which had been thrown by Astrid and a second guard collapsed.
Astrid pointed her sword at the Lannisters "So, who's next!" she sneered.
…
Arya ran through the corridors in the Stark Household and was shocked by the bodies of the Household, the guards and the servants, these were people who she had grown up with in Winterfell and now they were dead. She swore that she would make the Lannisters pay for this. She soon came across a cart which had her personal things on and so she went to get them, her sword Needle which had been given to her by Jon was there and she thought she was going to need it.
So she bent down to grab her sword but was unaware of a stable boy approaching her from behind "Here she is!" he shouted
Arya turned to see a fat chubby stable boy approaching her, he looked to be the same age as her "Go away!" she hissed
"Where do you think you're going?" the boy questioned "You're not leaving are you?"
"Help me with this" Arya stated "My father is the Hand of the King. He'll reward you"
The boy grabbed a pitchfork from a stack of straw "She'll reward me" the boy replied "The queen for your capture. Now come here you"
The boy grabbed her shoulder "I said stay away!" Arya hissed and then she turned around with Needle in her hands and the blade went right through the boy's chest. The boy's eyes widened in shock along with Arya's. Arya quickly withdrew the blade and then the boy collapsed. Arya looked at her hands which were covered in blood and then she looked at the stable boy's body. She had just killed someone and it was someone who was around the same age as her. She knew that she may have to kill someone at some point in her life but she never expected it to be when she was still quiet young. She then heard a growl and turned to see Astrid's Direwolf Huntress nearby "Huntress!" she gasped and she ran over to the wolf and the wolf jumped into her arms. While Huntress was Astrid's Direwolf, the wolf had also formed a close friendship with Arya. Arya looked to see a dead Lannister guard with his throat torn out so Arya thought that Huntress must have torn the soldier's throat out. She then sighed "Come on, we have to go, they're killing everyone. Astrid wants us to run, we have to go now" The wolf whined but understood that they had to leave and so the two of them made a run for it to escape the massacre. She knew a way to escape which was through the hidden tunnels that she had previously been in when she was exploring and spotted the two people plotting before. So she and Huntress went to find these tunnels so she could escape.
…
Meanwhile, Sansa had fled to her room which she had cleared of all her personal belongings which were to be taken back to Winterfell. She quickly barred the door to prevent anyone from entering and she hid by her bed. She had no idea what was going on but now she was very scared. She had no idea what to do and soon she heard someone banging against the door as they tried to force the door open. After a short while the door was knocked off its hinges and fell to the floor where Sansa saw several soldiers dressed in Lannister uniforms led by Prince Joffrey's sworn sword Sandor Clegane.
"Why are you here?" Sansa asked in a scared and weak voice "The queen will hear of this along with Prince Joffrey"
"Who do you think sent us here?" Sandor smirked "Now come along little dove, the new King and his mother want to see you"
…
Back over with Astrid, she was still fighting the Lannister soldiers as was going well against them. She had knocked one back before slashing his back with the sword she had taken from one of the soldiers. She stabbed another one in the leg which made him collapse. Then she grabbed another sword and fought with two swords which allowed her to fight 2 soldiers at once. She dodged one's attack and then slashed his neck with her swords and then stabbed another one in the gut.
"Come one men!" Meryn hissed "How hard is it to fight one girl"
"I am no girl" Astrid sneered as she swung her swords "I am a wolf from the North. A girl who fights and it will take more than some common soldiers to defeat me"
"Enough!" Meryn shouted as more soldiers entered the room "Get her"
The soldiers charged at her and Astrid was soon able to kill two more but now she was getting tired and overrun. She may have been a skilled fighter but there was only so much one person could do against a whole group of well trained, well-armed soldiers. Eventually, she lost one of her swords when it was knocked from her but she still carried on fighting and she charged forward and shoved her sword into the chest of a Lannister soldier. But the forced knocked both of them to the ground and then another soldier charged into Astrid which knocked her off the Lannister soldier and onto the ground. The soldiers then took turns kicking her making her groan each time. Astrid had killed a good number of the Lannister soldiers and the remaining ones wanted revenge.
"All right that's enough!" Meryn hissed "The King wants her alive." Two guards grabbed Astrid shoulders and picked her up and forced her to her knees. Meryn then bent down and looked at her face "And I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with you" he sneered and then he punched her hard in the face which knocked her from the soldiers grips and knocked her to the floor where her vision went black as she fell unconscious. "Take her out of here and take her to the guest rooms of the Red Keep." He ordered as he left. The soldiers then grabbed Astrid and then they began to drag her out of the Stark Household where the other soldiers were searching for survivors.
Chapter end:
Notes: Well, this took me a while because I was busy studying for my exams, updates are going to be quite slow for a while but I've now finished this chapter. The theme is going to get darker for a while with this story so expect some horrible scenes in upcoming chapters. Now Astrid is going to be tested on her survival skills in the next chapters. The next chapter will take a while because I have to study for my exams..